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Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Acupuncture | Study protocol

Effect of acupuncture on episodic memory for amnesia-type mild cognitive impairment: study protocol of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial

Authors: Yalan Dai, Rui Xia, Dan Wang, Shuqian Li, Xu Yuan, Xingjie Li, Jun Liu, Mengyang Wang, Yuxing Kuang, Shangjie Chen

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2023

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Abstract

Background

Amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is the main subtype of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and has the highest risk of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among all MCI subtypes. Episodic memory impairment is the early cognitive impairment of aMCI, which has become an important target for AD prevention. Previous clinical evidence has shown that acupuncture can improve the cognitive ability of MCI patients. This experiment aimed to observe the efficacy and neural mechanism of TiaoshenYizhi acupuncture on the episodic memory of patients with aMCI.

Methods

In this multicenter, parallel-group, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 360 aMCI participants will be recruited from six subcenters and randomly assigned to the acupuncture group, sham acupuncture group, and control group. The acupuncture group will receive TiaoshenYizhi (TSYZ) acupuncture, the sham acupuncture group will use streitberger sham acupuncture, and the control group will only receive free health education. Participants in the two acupuncture groups will receive real acupuncture treatment or placebo acupuncture three times per week, 24 sessions over 8 consecutive weeks. The primary outcome will be global cognitive ability. Secondary outcomes will be a specific cognitive domain, including episodic memory and execution ability, electroencephalogram, and functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Outcomes will be measured at baseline and the fourth and eighth weeks after randomization. Repeated measurement analysis of variance and a mixed linear model will be used to observe the intervention effect.

Discussion

The protocol will give a detailed procedure to the multicenter clinical trial to further evaluate the efficacy and neural mechanism of TiaoshenYizhi acupuncture on episodic memory in patients with aMCI. From this research, we expect to provide clinical evidence for early aMCI management.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Effect of acupuncture on episodic memory for amnesia-type mild cognitive impairment: study protocol of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial
Authors
Yalan Dai
Rui Xia
Dan Wang
Shuqian Li
Xu Yuan
Xingjie Li
Jun Liu
Mengyang Wang
Yuxing Kuang
Shangjie Chen
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04059-9

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